So "Clash of the Mutanimals"... Some very intense moments flashed in a half hour episode, which apparently bothered quite a few of you guys. I dunno, I have a feeling that people are going to start jumping all over it in regards to FF. But *shrug* I guess we'll see.
Anyhow, just thought I'd go ahead and jump on the train...Plus - inspiration. And you know, when you find yourself cranking out a one-shot in one sitting, why deny it the opportunity to live? So yeah, there's that too...
Disclaimer: Oh turtles, not my turtles.
Ermmm, nuff said I guess :) Proceed, read, enjoy, and let me know what you think.
It was like getting stabbed between the eyes with a blade of ice.
His lungs inflated. A gasp swept past his lips and he sat bolt upright, crossing the bridge between sleep and full vigilance in record-breaking time.
For a moment he couldn't get his eyes to blink. They just stared, wide and hyperaware of every whisper of movement that brushed along the edges of his room.
Bugs.
His skin crawled - as though they had already reached him, already buried themselves beneath his skin and squirmed their way up his arms.
They were probably everywhere: Grubby cockroaches, venomous spiders, and swollen worms oozing with slime and wriggling around just to look creepy, inching forward with sharp teeth and milky, unseeing eyes, looking for the perfect spot to burrow.
He tensed his shoulders as his body gave a shudder. His eyes darted around, checking every corner. He inched down deeper beneath his blanket until it was over his nose.
"Not afraid," he whispered to himself—sure for a moment that his confidence was legitimate.
They were just bugs…Tiny inch-long creatures - bathed in chemicals and sewage, shedding away from the dark, vile bowels of the earth, prowling around for victims to drain the blood and feeling from.
His throat tightened. He slowly turned his eyes up to the ceiling above him where a nest of larvae wiggled and dripped long strands of pasty ooze over his head.
He jumped out of bed, snatched up his pillow and blanket, and clutched them close to his plastron. He ran, tripped and stumbled, wide eyes searching the floor, feet touching and leaving the cement as though it burned his toes.
Bugs. Worms.
He slammed the door shut in the hall, with more force than he really meant to, then backed away cautiously until his shell hit his brother's door.
He threw himself inside to safety.
He was only slightly more careful about the amount of noise he made when shutting this door behind him and immediately scampered up to his brother's bedside. He hugged his pillow close with one hand and tapped his brother's shoulder with the other.
"Leo," he whispered.
Leo turned over in his sleep and pulled his blanket up over his shoulder. A peaceful hum drifted its way up from his lungs and he settled back into silence within seconds.
Raph pursed his lips, nervously glancing toward the door. He could've sworn he heard it creak, as though threatening to burst under the pressure of mounds of maggots piling up on the other side.
Bugs. Worms. Slime.
He inched half a step further away then shook his brother's shell.
"Leo."
The sleeping turtle moaned as Raph tugged the blanket away from him. He grimaced and fought to pull it back, mumbling something incoherent just before his face relaxed and he slipped back into a doze.
"Leo!"
Leo flinched and finally cracked an eye open, swinging his blue gaze over his shoulder. "Raph…" He groaned and turned away again, burying his face in his pillow. "Whudyouwant?"
"Can I sleep on the floor?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I sleep on the floor?"
A stretch of silence carried out across the room on the wings of the shadows and the backs of the bugs, and for a moment Raph thought his brother might have fallen back asleep. But Leo picked his head up after a few beats, leaning on his elbows, and squinted over at the younger turtle.
"What?"
Raph huffed through his nose and shifted the bundle in his arms. "Can I sleep on the floor…in here?"
Leo's brow furrowed. He gave Raph a once-over and then seemed to decide he was too tired for an argument. He dropped his face back into his pillow, stuffed his hands beneath it and turned his head to the side, this time facing Raph but with his eyes closed.
"Fine," he sighed.
Raph kept his breath of relief quiet and dropped his pillow at his feet. He made himself as comfortable as he could on the floor before draping his blanket over his body, taking extra care to cover his feet, and huddled what was left of the cloth against his neck. His eyes skimmed the underside of Leo's bed guardedly.
"You okay?"
Raph glanced up at his older brother to find him peeking down over the puffed edge of his pillow.
The green-eyed turtle put on his best scoffing face and punched his pillow in place for good measure before plopping down on it.
"Yeah," he said shortly. "It's—cold in my room. S'warmer in here. Go back to sleep."
He turned roughly on his side, planting his shell in Leo's line of sight and tensed his muscles until he heard his brother's breathing return to a slow even rhythm.
Then he stared…and waited.
He watched the shadows framing the far wall, gazing so forcefully that rings pulsed around his vision, giving the illusion of movement. The whole wall was crawling with them.
Bugs. Worms. Slime. Pain.
He grimaced, rubbed his forehead, and scooted closer to Leo's bed until the frame was touching his shell and he could go no further.
His head and limbs reflexively began to draw into his shell.
It wasn't an illusion. It was real. They were there. They were moving, crawling, squirming, closer and closer, and writhing across the floor. His heart fought to free itself from its cage behind his plastron, panicking, longing to escape the oncoming swell. He curled his fingers into fists as though preparing to fight them off. But his arms were shaking. He wasn't ready.
They wiggled closer and began growing, elongating, pushing out floundering extensions of themselves that opened up and presented sharp dripping teeth and a gaping hole for a mouth.
He couldn't swallow. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't speak. He couldn't wake Leo.
They'd both have to submit to the cold, dark, sinister voice that would follow the pain.
His chest tightened, longing to release a scream that wouldn't unstick itself from his lungs. He could already feel them creeping their way up his face, slimy, cold, fat, and sticky.
He jumped up, brushing them frantically away, and leapt onto his brother's bed.
"Ouch! Raph, what the heck?!"
Raphael completely disregarded his brother and the fact that he'd just kneed him very rudely in the plastron. Instead of apologizing, he crawled hastily over him, ignoring the hands that swatted at his shell, and buried himself beneath Leo's blanket. He pressed his carapace firmly back against the wall and latched onto his brother's arm to yank him close.
"What are you doing?" Leo exclaimed.
Raph squeezed his eyes shut, breathing raggedly, and hid his face in his brother's shoulder. "A-Are they gone?"
"What?"
"Are they gone?"
"What are you talking about? Are what gone?"
"The worms."
"What worms?"
He shot out a finger and pointed toward the wall. "They're over there."
Leo shifted, but Raph did not care to look for himself. He didn't want to see.
"Raph, there's nothing there…Would you let go?" Leo pried Raph's fingers away from his arm. "What's the matter with you?"
Even with them closed, Raphael could feel his eyes burning. He hid his face in his hands and pulled his knees closer to his chest, as though curling into a ball might protect him. He made sure his forehead was completely covered.
"Raph?"
Leo's voice was softer this time—almost concerned maybe. His hands gently closed around Raph's fingers and tugged them away from his face. The younger turtle tried to resist, but Leo wouldn't allow him to.
Once his face was exposed, opening his eyes was automatic, but he knew it'd only make the moment worse. He couldn't even see his older brother through the blur.
"Hey…Raph…" Leo slid an arm underneath him, wrapping it back behind his shell to pull him closer.
It was natural for Raphael to draw away. He didn't do it on purpose. He just turned his face over his shoulder, disgusted with himself for having left his own room in the first place.
He saw something move out of the corner of his eye. It scuttled across the wall just over his head and the scream finally came—automatic, like a valve opened up in his throat and allowed it to gush out.
His hands latched onto his brother's plastron and he tried to squirm as far away from the wall as possible.
Leo's arm curled itself securely around him and he leaned over the younger turtle's body. His fist struck the wall. Raph swore he could feel the critter's guts splattering across the back of his neck.
He shivered violently against Leo's torso, clinging to him as though to cocoon himself in his brother's embrace meant nothing could touch him.
"Raph, calm down! It was just a spider."
He didn't know he was still screaming. He didn't know Leo's voice was trying to console him. And he took no notice at all when his screams turned into sobs.
He only knew bugs. Bugs. Worms. Slime. Pain. And control.
"I couldn't get it out of me!" he cried.
"Raph…"
"It j-just sucked everything out and…"
"Raph…"
"I tried to stop it!"
"I know."
"It just—burrowed itself into…I couldn't…And he had control over everything!"
"Shhh…Raph, just close your eyes."
Raphael obeyed, though he wasn't sure if his eyes were already closed at that point. He buried his face in his brother's shoulder and allowed himself to be rocked, soothed by a hand that passed over the back of his head and then slid down his shell. Leo's shoulder was wet with tears and snot, but he didn't seem to care. And as long as he didn't, Raph continued to cry.
"I'm s-sorry," he whimpered.
Leo's head shook. "Don't…There's nothing to be sorry for."
"I could've—"
"Shhh…Go to sleep."
"But the w-worms—"
"I'll get rid of them," Leo said, his voice firm and absolute. "I'll kill them all for you…You don't have to be afraid."